Revolution, not evolution

"We want this to be a revolution in finance and not evolution,"
Michael Goodbody, a spokesman for TransferWise, told Business
Insider.

"This is the start of something very fundamental. It's very
inflammatory language to get people to think about it in a
revolutionary way of improvement in an industry that is being
disrupted and will continue being disrupted."

At the hackathon, a healthy mixture of investment bankers,
coders, entrepreneurs, and some Columbia University students are
expected to pitch solutions to what they consider problems with
the existing financial system. The event, which originally
capped off at 100 attendees, now has 165 RSVPs.

Some of those problems could be ATM fees or the continued use of
checkbooks — which are both "archaic" parts of the US banking
system, according Joe Cross, the US general manager of
TransferWise.

"We want to show that all these things they can do can be done
correctly in a weekend. And show that fintech has solutions to
some of New York's biggest problems," Anthony Catt, the managing
director at Oxygen Startups, told Business Insider.

For TransferWise, valued at $1 billion, the event is not only a
way to get ideas flowing, but also for the company, which has
done well in the UK, to make its presence felt in the US.

Hackers and innovators
will gather here from Friday to Sunday.WeWorks/breakthebankshackathon

It'll help the company tap into US early adopters, mix with US
clients and set up a base, said Cross.

"The hackathon is a great way for your customers to bond with the
brand — people really love the idea of being a part of something
that is changing banking," he added.

Strange bedfellows: David and Goliath

Fintech funding has been on a tear. Investments in the
fintech space have tripled from $4.05 billion in 2013 to $12.21
billion in 2014.Online lending startup Sofi
raised $1 billion in September, the biggest financing
round by any company in fintech.

Many of these companies have positioned themselves as the
antithesis of the big banks.

"It's like a David and Goliath set up, and the big banks are
Goliath — they been there for centuries, and then there's the
David — smarter, nimbler with better tech," Cross said.

"Most fintech companies still have relationships with traditional
banks to hold their funds and transmit money .... The one thing
banks do quite well is hold money," He said.

Goldman Sachs recently set up a hackathon in conjunction with
Kensho in June,
The New York Times reported. Barclays is also running a
fintech lab known as the Barclays
Fintech Accelerator, a three-month program focused on
developing disruptive financial technology.

"Break the Banks,"
TransferWise's event, is also sponsored by Yodlee Interactive,
Digital Ocean, and IEX Group. It is in part, organized by Oxygen
Startups, a startup accelerator.

A cash prize along with
dinner with the founders of TransferWise,Kristo
Käärmann and Taavet Hinrikus, as well as a board member from IA
Ventures, will be awarded to the winning team, in the hopes of
making their startup into a business.

"We'll see what comes out of it," TransferWise's Goodbody said
when asked if the company would be interested in commercializing
any of the ideas from the hackathon. "If something interesting
comes out, we'd be interested in going from there."